Round we go

So I'm really feeling this spinning thing lately. And I haven't even been playing with my pretty new Golding spindle (I want to finish this pair of socks I'm knitting before starting a new project, seeing as I have 3 active and 1 semi active projects right now... that's about my limit). I'm trying to spin up the last couple ounces of black alpaca on my Ashford. The first ounce or two took forever, I think because I was trying to spin it too thin for the spindle, but I'm spinning a thicker thread now, and it's going much more quickly.

I put the pencil there for some sense of scale. Doesn't really work, does it? Aside from black being pretty hard to photograph at night, you can see that my yarn is really inconsistent. I've been jealous of how quickly some people seem to be able to drop spindle perfect yarn. Mine? Still inconsistent. Not like a thick and thin yarn, but with definite areas of slight thicker and thinnerness. It may also not help that this batch of fiber has been abused and carted across the country multiple times.

But I also expect this has something to do with the way I learned to drop spindle, which was from watching videos and reading descriptions on the internet. And I have produced yarn. Yarn which, I think, one could actually knit with. But I want to learn more, which is why I am going to hunt for a copy of Spinning in the Old Way when I'm used book store hopping in Seattle tomorrow. It seems like a good resource for the basics, and I hope to feel less like I am making things up, and perhaps less panic when trying to ply.

I am also hoping to stop at the Weaving Works tomorrow. They have buckets and buckets of spinning fiber to pet and purchase. Since I certainly don't need anymore yarn (unless it's on clearance! That's my weakness.), purchasing spinning fiber is an excellent excuse to go to the yarn store. What kind of fiber? I don't know. Something soft. And pretty.